Why NBA legend Charles Barkley is urging White House visit for championship teams
03/03/2025 07:49 PM
Championship teams seem to be hesitant towards White House invites, especially when it involves U.S. President Donald Trump. NBA legend Charles Barkley has his qualms towards that approach.
Barkley appeared on the latest episode of The Steam Room podcast with co-host Ernie Johnson. He gave his thoughts on the Super Bowl 59 Philadelphia Eagles, believing they should accept the invite to go to the White House and meet President Trump.
"Even though I disagree with President Trump on some things, if I met him, I would still give him the respect and dignity he deserves. We can disagree, but it bothers me when these teams don't want to go to the White House,” Charles Barkley said.
“I'm just disappointed…we got so divided. Where did we get to as a country when we're like, 'We're not going to the White House, we don't like who's in there.' That's just stupid."
NBA teams’ White House visits in past years
White House visits for NBA championship teams have been active in past seasons, which happened when Joe Biden served at the position from 2021 to 2025.
The Boston Celtics were the most recent squad to have visited the White House. They celebrated their 18th title in franchise history, beating the Dallas Mavericks in five games during the 2024 NBA Finals.
Other teams in the past, such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, also took attendance with their respective invites.
During Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. President from 2017 to 2021, he did not see NBA championship teams make their way to the White House. The Golden State Warriors declined both invites in 2017 and 2018, the Toronto Raptors did the same in 2019, and the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t visit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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